Feed.thegamesearcher.com redirect removal instructions

What is feed.thegamesearcher.com?

Like most search engines of this type, feed.thegamesearcher.com is promoted as useful and legitimate: its developers offer faster searches, improved search results, quick links to various websites and so on. However, it is a fake search engine that is promoted through browser hijacker, a potentially unwanted application (PUA) called TheGameSearcher. Typically, people do not install apps of this type on purpose (intentionally). When installed, PUAs like TheGameSearcher change browser's settings and continuously collect information related to user's browsing habits.

Usually browser hijacking apps can be installed on Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer web browsers. If installed, TheGameSearcher changes settings such as: default search engine, homepage and new tab's URL address. It sets them to feed.thegamesearcher.com. Once these modifications are mate, people who have TheGameSearcher installed must visit this website when they open a browser window (or a new browser window), enter a search query into URL bar and open new tabs. Like most browser hijackers it also makes sure that these settings stay unchanged: if an attempt to undo/change them is made, it immediately reverts them to feed.thegamesearcher.com again. The only way to avoid having to visit this website on mentioned circumstances is to uninstall TheGameSearcher application. As mentioned in introduction, feed.thegamesearcher.com is presented as a search engine. However, it does not provide its users with any unique search results at all. If used, it simply redirects users to search.yahoo.com (a legitimate search engine created by Yahoo) and displays results generated by this search engine. Another problem with this fake search engine (and TheGameSearcher browser hijacker) is information tracking. They gather information about their users browsing habits. In other words, collect information such as IP addresses, geo-locations, all entered search queries, URLs of visited websites and so on. However, there are many PUAs and search engines of this type that record personal details/data as well. Additionally, their developers continuously share all collected information with third parties (potentially, cyber criminals) who misuse it to generate revenue. We recommend to uninstall any installed PUAs (including TheGameSearcher) as soon as possible.

Free scanner checks if your computer is infected. To remove malware, you have to purchase the full version of Spyhunter.

There is an uncountable number of various fake search engines. Search.hprimesports.co, search.searchipdf.com and search.htheweathercenter.org are jut a couple of examples. Typically, their developers trick people into using these search engines by promoting/presenting them as handy, useful, legitimate and so on. However, most of these search engines are fake and completely useless. Additionally, they often are designed to generate revenue for their developers by gathering information. Usage of such search engines can cause problems related to browsing safety, privacy or even identity theft.

How did TheGameSearcher install on my computer?

TheGameSearcher is available for download on its website. However, very often people install apps of this type inadvertently. Unwanted downloads/installations usually happen through clicked intrusive advertisements or when software developers use a deceptive marketing method called "bundling". It is a method that is used to trick people to install/download PUAs together with regular software that they download/install on purpose/intentionally. In most cases unwanted apps are hidden in "Custom", "Advanced" or other similar options/settings of software download or/and installation setups. However, people cause inadvertent installations/downloads of potentially unwanted applications by themselves when they leave all available download or installation setup's settings unchanged/unchecked.

How to avoid installation of potentially unwanted applications?

To prevent unwanted downloads and installations, we recommend to download software only from official, trustworthy websites. Unreliable sources such as Peer-to-Peer networks (torrent clients, eMule and so on), unofficial web pages, third party downloaders etc., should not be used. Another important thing is to check all available settings (like "Custom", "Advanced" and other similar sections) when installing any software, especially if it is free. All checkboxes ticked by default should be analyzed too. We also advise not to click intrusive advertisements, especially when visiting questionable websites. Ads of this type usually cause redirects to potentially malicious or other untrustworthy websites like gambling, pornography, adult dating and so on. If unwanted redirects happen randomly (or intrusive advertisements appear on any visited website), then we strongly recommend to see if there are any unwanted apps (extensions, add-ons or plug-ins) installed on a browser. All unknown, suspicious apps should be removed immediately. Same applies to programs installed on operating system. If your computer is already infected with TheGameSearcher, we recommend running a scan with
Spyhunter for Windows to automatically eliminate this browser hijacker.

Website promoting TheGameSearcher browser hijacker:

IMPORTANT NOTE! This deceptive site asks to enable web browser notifications.

Therefore, before commencing, perform these steps:

Google Chrome (PC):

Click the Menu button (three dots) on the right upper corner of the screen

Select "Settings", scroll down to the bottom and click "Advanced"

Scroll down to the "Privacy and security" section, select "Content settings" and then "Notifications"

Click three dots on the right hand side of each suspicious URL and click "Block" or "Remove" (if you click "Remove" and visit the malicious site once more, it will ask to enable notifications again)

Google Chrome (Android):

Click on the Menu button (three dots) on the right upper corner of the screen and click "Settings"

Scroll down, click on "Site settings" and then "Notifications"

In the opened window, locate all suspicious URLs and click on them one-by-one

Select "Notifications" in the "Permissions" section and click "Block"

Mozilla Firefox:

Click the Menu button (three bars) on the right upper corner of the screen

Select "Options" and click on "Privacy & Security" in the toolbar on the left hand side of the screen

Scroll down to the "Permissions" section and click the "Settings" button next to "Notifications"

In the opened window, locate all suspicious URLs, click the drop-down menu and select "Block"

Select suspicious URLs under and remove them one by one by clicking the "Remove" button

Microsoft Edge:

Click the menu button (three dots) on the right upper corner of the Edge window

Scroll down, find and click "Settings"

Scroll down again and click "View advanced settings"

Click "Manage" under "Notifications"

Click the switch under each suspicious website

Safari:

Click "Safari" button on the bottom of the screen and select "Preferences..."

Select the "Websites" tab and then select "Notifications" section on the left pane

Check for suspicious URLs and apply the "Deny" option for each

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TheGameSearcher browser hijacker removal from Internet browsers:

Remove malicious add-ons from Internet Explorer:

Click the "gear" icon (at the top right corner of Internet Explorer), select "Manage Add-ons". Look for any recently installed suspicious extensions, select these entries and click "Remove".

Change your homepage:

Click the "gear" icon (at the top right corner of Internet Explorer), select "Internet Options", in the opened window remove hxxp://feed.thegamesearcher.com and enter your preferred domain, which will open each time you launch Internet Explorer. You can also enter about: blank to open a blank page when you start Internet Explorer.

Change your default search engine:

Click the "gear" icon (at the top right corner of Internet Explorer), select "Manage Add-ons". In the opened window, select "Search Providers", set "Google", "Bing", or any other preferred search engine as your default and then remove "feed.thegamesearcher.com".

Optional method:

If you continue to have problems with removal of the thegamesearcher browser hijacker, reset your Internet Explorer settings to default.

Windows XP users: Click Start, click Run, in the opened window type inetcpl.cpl In the opened window click the Advanced tab, then click Reset.

Windows Vista and Windows 7 users: Click the Windows logo, in the start search box type inetcpl.cpl and click enter. In the opened window click the Advanced tab, then click Reset.

Remove malicious extensions from Google Chrome:

Click the Chrome menu icon (at the top right corner of Google Chrome), select "More tools" and click "Extensions". Locate "TheGameSearcher" and other recently-installed suspicious browser add-ons, and remove them.

Change your homepage:

Click the Chrome menu icon (at the top right corner of Google Chrome), select "Settings". In the "On startup" section, look for "TheGameSearcher" browser hijacker's URL (hxxp://www.feed.thegamesearcher.com) below the “Open a specific or set of pages” option. If present click on the three vertical dots icon and select “Remove”.

Change your default search engine:

To change your default search engine in Google Chrome: Click the Chrome menu icon (at the top right corner of Google Chrome), select "Settings", in the "Search engine" section, click "Manage search engines...", in the opened list look for "feed.thegamesearcher.com" when located click the three vertical dots near this URL and select "Remove from list".

Optional method:

If you continue to have problems with removal of the thegamesearcher browser hijacker, reset your Google Chrome browser settings. Click the Chrome menu icon (at the top right corner of Google Chrome) and select Settings. Scroll down to the bottom of the screen. Click the Advanced… link.

After scrolling to the bottom of the screen, click the Reset (Restore settings to their original defaults) button.

In the opened window, confirm that you wish to reset Google Chrome settings to default by clicking the Reset button.

Remove malicious plugins from Mozilla Firefox:

Click the Firefox menu (at the top right corner of the main window), select "Add-ons". Click on "Extensions" and remove "TheGameSearcher", as well as all other recently installed browser plug-ins.

Change your homepage:

To reset your homepage, click the Firefox menu (at the top right corner of the main window), then select "Options", in the opened window, disable "TheGameSearcher", remove hxxp://feed.thegamesearcher.com and enter your preferred domain, which will open each time you start Mozilla Firefox.

Change your default search engine:

In the URL address bar, type about:config and press Enter.Click "I'll be careful, I promise!".In the search filter at the top, type: "feed.thegamesearcher.com"Right-click on the found preferences and select "Reset" to restore default values.

Optional method:

Computer users who have problems with thegamesearcher browser hijacker removal can reset their Mozilla Firefox settings.

Open Mozilla Firefox, at the top right corner of the main window, click the Firefox menu, in the opened menu, click Help.

Select Troubleshooting Information.

In the opened window, click the Refresh Firefox button.

In the opened window, confirm that you wish to reset Mozilla Firefox settings to default by clicking the Refresh Firefox button.

Remove malicious add-ons from Microsoft Edge:

Click the three horizontal dots icon (at the top right corner of Microsoft Edge), select "Extensions". Look for any recently-installed suspicious extensions, right click your mouse on these entries and click "Uninstall".

Change your homepage:

Click the three horizontal dots icon (at the top right corner of Microsoft Edge), select "Settings", in the opened tab, click the "+ Add new page" link, after entering your preferred URL, remove the link of browser hijackers by clicking the "X" button next to the associated URL.

Change your default search engine:

Click the three horizontal dots icon (at the top right corner of Microsoft Edge), select "Settings". Click the "View advanced settings" button and select "Change search engine". In the opened tab, select your preferred Internet search engine and click "Set as default".

Optional method:

Click the three horizontal dots icon (at the top right corner of Microsoft Edge), and select Settings.

In the opened tab, click the "Choose what to clear" button.

Click Show more and select everything, and then click the "Clear" button.

If this did not help, follow these alternative instructions explaining how to reset the Microsoft Edge browser.

Summary:

A browser hijacker is a type of adware infection that modifies Internet browser settings by assigning the homepage and default Internet search engine settings to some other (unwanted) website URL. Commonly, this type of adware infiltrates operating systems through free software downloads. If your download is managed by a download client, ensure that you decline offers to install advertised toolbars or applications that seek to change your homepage and default Internet search engine settings.

Removal assistance:If you are experiencing problems while trying to remove thegamesearcher browser hijacker from your Internet browsers, please ask for assistance in our malware support forum.

Post a comment:If you have additional information on thegamesearcher browser hijacker or it's removal please share your knowledge in the comments section below.

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